Domestic violence

Here are some quite interesting -- and perhaps even shocking -- statistics about domestic violence arrests (from mirror.co.uk):

UK -- Researchers have found that female suspects are proportionately more likely to be arrested when police investigate allegations of domestic violence.

Despite the fact that women were the victims in 91 per cent of cases, police detained female suspects once in every three incidents, according to a study.

T put things in perspective, men, which are the offenders in 92 per cent of cases, are arrested only once in every 10 incidents.

A Bristol University researcher (Prof Marianne Hester), said the difference was because women were more likely to arm themselves during rows.

She said that women were using a weapon nearly always in self-defense which is treated as a more serious offence.

Brian Moore, Association of Chief Police Officers' lead on domestic violence, said: "It is often only after arrest that an investigation establishes a history of violence."

692 people held for domestic abuse between 2001 and 2007 were studied by a team lead by Prof Hester.

Not very surprised

There' a new US based study which has been presented by the Emergency Nurses Association. The study shows that workplace violence is all too common in the nursing profession. However, it is not the co-workers, but patients and their families it stems from.

Over 3,000 nurses participated in a survey and more than half said they had experienced physically violence on the job, according to channel3000.com. What is even more alarming is that one in four said they had been subjected to a physical assault more than 20 times in the last three years.

"They'll spit, they'll pinch, they'll grab, they'll kick at you," one nurse said. She was not terribly surprised by the findings."The ones that just aren't getting what they want out of their visit, they get very verbally abusive and in your face."

Sexual assault at work

Israel -- An annual report from the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel is shedding light on the phenomenon of sexual assault in workplace environments. The number of complaints on harassment at work has risen by 12% in 2008, according to ynetnews.com.

The report which is being submitted to the Knesset (the Israeli National Assembly) is focusing on a particularly touchy subject - sexual assaults in the workplace.

Last year the number of complaints regarding sexual harassment in the workplace rose by 12%. Reports on workplace harassment reveal that 81% (!) of employees have complained of sexual harassment, 11.4% of them referring to rape and attempted rape, and 7.6% to indecent assaults.

South Africa and rape

South Africa -- Health24.com reports about some scary statistical findings regarding the sexual assault figures in South Africa.

According to a recent shock report by the Medical Research Council, one in every four (!) South African men have raped a woman.

What's more, 4,6% of the men interviewed had raped in the past year. Almost 8% of the men said they had raped more than 10 women or girls.

The study was conducted anonymously in 1,738 households in three different regions in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal, and included men of all racial groups, ages and socio-economic backgrounds.

Oh dear...

Women's Self-Defense Tips

Just a quick heads up about a new lense (small web-page): Women's Self-Defense Tips I've set up on Squidoo. Check it out today!

As always, feel free to give feedback and comments. Anything special you would like to see added?

New woman's self-defense resource

In addition to our bi-weekly 'Women Can' reports, we have added another (also free) female selfdefense resource for you: 'Women's Self-Defense Tips'.
This is a weekly quick read - to-the point "tips and tricks". Make sure you sign up today by clicking below.

Great, free self-defense content

I'm really excited about being able to bring you this link to great, FREE content!

Since you are here you are most likely interested in self-defense in general, perhaps even self-defense for women i particular? In any case, you should immediately rush over to:

Jujitsu.no/women-can

From that page you can sign up for my bi-weekly and brand new report 'Women Can'. These self-defense success stories are all taken from the e-book series "I Hear You Say Women Can't Defend Themselves".

And not only will I be sending out new incident rapport every 14 days. You will also find analysis of the incidents, plus valuable tips and pointers.

So, jump right over and Sign up today - you can thank me later :-)

Guys too

If you believed only females got knocked out by "date-rape" drugs, then think again. You have to be aware that the stuff is being used also to rob people.

Kvue.com reports about cases in Texas (Dallas and Houston) where women allegedly have targeted men at hotel night clubs and used some type of drugs to spike their drinks.

A police spokesman said that this has happened shortly after meeting them,and that the rest of the night is a blur until they find their property gone when they wake up the next morning. All of these male victims wore expensive watches, police said.

Police said these professional crooks are flirtatious, and that at least 8-cases have been reported since November 2007.

Illegal cabs again

Don't mind jumping into an illegal cab after a night out? What's the problem you say?

Well, let us use Oslo, my town in Norway as an example. Just in a couple of days there has been reported several instances of rape and other serious criminal activities involving illegal taxi drivers. One driver alone was recently accused of three sexual assaults against drunk, young female victims.

Then there's another case where a 41-year-old woman was raped and robbed. As if the sexual trauma is not enough, the travel insurance company have refused to pay the woman for the values she was robbed of.

Why? They claim the victim is to blame by getting into an illegal cab under the influence of alcohol.

Even if this may be a tough call, it points to the very real dangers of getting into one of these vehicles - if anything happens, you're basically on your own.

Rape facts

Some people may perhaps still believe that rape often times involve some perverted stranger jumping out from behind bushes late at night.

The figures below should indeed points to the undisputible, statistical facts that the assault rape by some "lurking weirdo" is not as prevalent as one might be led to believe by watching the news.

Of course, assault rape by total strangers do happen ... in fact you may read about hundreds upon hundreds of such cases in my e-book series: Women Can. And these are only cases where women fought back successfully.

Still, most rapes and attempted rapes are done by someone the victim knows, like a neighbour. And even though the below story is from India, it is really universal in nature.

Story:
India -- Figures collected from different police stations in Surat show that neighbours were involved in 23 out of the 45 rape or rape attempt cases registered during 2007. Girls aged between three and 15 were victims in 18 of the cases.

Neighbours were followed by other close acquaintances such as friends, who were involved in six cases. In three cases, rickshaw drivers were found to be involved, while the crime was committed in one case each by a tenant and a landlord.

Lover and to-be husband were found involved in two rape cases, while the father of a victim was the guilty in one case. The accused in four of the cases have not been identified so far, the police records show.

A police spokesman said that such cases are taking place not only in Surat, but are a common occurrence all over the country. He further said in many cases victim's neighbours or other acquaintances were involved as victims are in regular contact with them.

More school violence

Here are three individual cases, each pointing to the huge - and vastly un- or under reported - problem of violence towards teachers.
One of the reports says: "Teachers and campus officials probably shun police reports and prosecution because they don't want to hurt the child or taint the school."

January 25, thedailyitemoflynn.com reported from Lynn, Massachusetts about a high school disciplinary meeting which turned violent.
The 20-year-old sister of a suspended student physically assaulted two teachers and threatened several others, according to the report.

January 28, dailytribune.com had a story from Oak Park, Michigan about a 17-year-old high school student being charged as an adult.
The teenager was reportedly accused of assaulting a female teacher, and the teacher says violence and threats at the school are increasing.

Then on January 29, ajc.com had an article about a female teacher from Lilburn, Georgia.
The experienced teacher was blindsided by a 12-year-old middle school student. "It was a beatdown", the newspaper says.

More targeting

Canada -- Vancouver.24hrs.ca reports that Asian women are being targeted in the latest string of violent purse snatchings, according to police.

A Police spokesperson says that five women have been assaulted from behind and robbed in southeast Vancouver between December 4 and December 9.

"The suspect comes up from behind and brutalizes the victim," the spokesperson said. Some women were hit in the back of the head with something like a police baton.

In the past, Asian women were targeted by thieves because of a perception immigrants are less likely to report crimes.

Nursing homes

Ontario, Canada -- Attacks by residents against staff at Ontario nursing homes have more than doubled in the past four years - turning the residences into high-risk places of work, a CBC News investigation has found.

Government documents obtained by the CBC show nursing home residents routinely assault the staff, as well as beat each other up. But warnings and complaints go unheeded.

Data obtained from Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-term Care show the number of such serious incidents reported rose to 358 in 2006, compared with 155 in 2002.Those numbers only include what the ministry calls "unusual occurrences" or serious events that put residents' lives in danger.

Read more at cbc.ca

Walking, sitting duck

Depending on your point of view, it may be kind of scary, funny, or outright stupid. What?
Some people demand the right to be sitting (or walking) ducks for criminals, that's what. How is that? Well, they "have" to listen to music, of course!
Running, walking or riding a subway or bus - you see them all over. Tuned out from the world, just waiting for some criminal to pick them as a victim.

Wcbstv.com (New York) reports about a new study by researchers at the Urban Institute. The study reportedly suggests the gadget is so popular, there's a spike in violent crime nationwide.

Nearly 90 million iPods had been sold by the end of 2006, most of them from 2004 to 2006. During those years, the FBI saw a spike in robberies. Before that, crime stats had fallen 14 years in a row.

As a result, the researchers at the Urban Institute point to the easy access to iPods for the increase in robberies.

The iPods are so popular and in such high demand, many people are changing out the standard white headphones, hoping to steer clear of possible violent threats. Personally, I kind of wonder why we can't just tune in to our surroundings instead.

"It's almost the equivalent of walking around with a $100 bill taped to your back or something, so you've got this very expensive little piece of machinery that's very visible to other people," said John Roman of the Urban Institute. "And you're sort of tuned out, while you walk around with it, so it really is an invitation to a would-be robber."

Police recommend self-defense

UK -- Police recommend self-defence lessons after pupils admit to feeling fearful of being attacked.

Self-defence lessons should be offered to young girls who live in daily fear of being beaten up, according to police, following a survey of 12 and 13-year-olds in North Wales.

The results, published last week in the report Young People as Victims of Crime, show that girls worry more about becoming victims than boys.

Police claim that young girls' stress is largely unfounded, with pupils more likely to be threatened than attacked.

Source

False reports

In New South Wales, Australia, about 30 people faked their own kidnappings in the past year.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures show that NSW has the highest recorded kidnapping rate in the country, with 6.9 abductions per 100,000 people.

However, the bureau's report found that of the 238 cases of alleged abduction reviewed by researchers, only 57 per cent involved an actual abduction.

About one-third of victims experienced an attempted abduction and 4 per cent of cases did not fall into the legal description of abduction. In 7 per cent of cases, either no abduction took place or a false report was given to police.

There were 422 recorded abductions between October 2005 and September 2006. That would suggest about 30 people falsified kidnappings last year.

Source

'Mall-Wart'?

Quite alarming statistics regarding Wal-Mart ...

Story:
Wal-Mart complexes experience a significant number of police incidents, more so than at other shopping complexes. This is according to a national study published less than a year ago by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union at WakeUpWalMart.com.

The study examined police reports associated with 551 Wal-Mart stores across the country. It collected data from 404 police departments from 434 cities and towns.

The study demonstrates that nationally, Wal-Mart stores cost local taxpayers an estimated $77 million in increased police costs in 2004.

What the report calls "magnet for crime" is not limited to merely in-store crimes like shoplifting and check forgery. Included is also violent and serious crimes including rape, attempted rape, aggravated assault, burglary, auto-theft, arson, narcotics, kidnapping and murder.

The report shows that there were 1,024 auto thefts reported at Wal-Mart stores, 154 sex crimes, 23 kidnappings or attempted kidnappings and 1,145 assaults with a deadly weapon.

Source

Stockholm stats

A recent report from the 'Center for Public Health' shows that there was 6800 cases of assault on women reported to police in Stockholm during 2006 (in average 19 cases per day). There was 1178 rapes, on average 3 reports per day.

Two thirds of the women was subject to assault indoor, often by a spouse or family member. Karen Leander (who wrote the report) criticise the media for giving a false image of violence towards women. Media tend to spread the idea that women are being assaulted and raped by strangers, outside in the dark, she says.

She goes on to state that even rapes and assaults outdoors are, for a major part, being carried out by someone the victim knows.

Mobile theft capital

UK -- A survey has revealed that Glasgow is the mobile phone theft capital of the British Isles.

With one in five cases involving phones being snatched from bags, almost a third of people living in the city have had their mobile stolen.

The study also shows phone thieves are most likely to strike in the evenings; the months April and August had the highest rates of phone theft in the city, and one in five admitted falling victim while on night out.

Source

Usually been drinking

You must be kidding; Consuming alcohol and walking alone through a secluded area at night "may increase the chances of being attacked". Wow, that is a huge surprise...

Story:
Edinburgh, Scotland -- Every week, according to police, one person is assaulted in the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links. The total number of (recorded) crimes in the area has soared from 68 in 2003-4 to 166 in 2006-7 according to police.

The majority of victims of serious assaults and hold-ups have usually been drinking, and they are white males aged between 21 and 25. They are mostly attacked by gangs of youths aged under 20 - many culprits in their mid teens.

"Pedestrians walking through the area at night after consuming alcohol may be increasing their chances of being attacked as they are less aware of their surroundings and therefore more vulnerable (...)"

Source